If you have ever watched Survivor on TV you know that which Tribe a contestant belongs to determines their fate. The same is true in business. Choose the right business tribe and you will thrive. Choose wrong or become tribe-less and you may find yourself voted off the island by your competition. The roman legion was legendary in their ability to create a group of men who came from various walks of life and became one as a fighting unit. If we are to go beyond survival in business to become those who thrive and conquer we must find our [More …]

One of our big revelations and transformations has come from our focus on our core values. I thought I understood Core Values, but I did not really get it until just recently. I only truly ‘got it’ when I started to practise it. Like so many things we talk about it (core values, mission, vision, values statements), it is always transformational when we begin to walk it and apply it daily. To truly enjoy your business use your core values to filter out life draining work. We now filter everything we do as a business through a set of core [More …]

Have you ever wondered how some companies develop riveting cultures, while others are stagnant? I used to think that corporate culture was reserved for 100+ employee size companies, but now I see it starts from the ground up. Culture exists any time you have people interacting with each other. Sadly, unless we are consciously creating culture, it will be created by the personalities of the loudest individuals. Unfortunately, the squeaky wheel gets the grease and the squeaky employee creates the most cultural influence. How are you creating and managing your company culture? Many companies rely on their weekly staff meetings [More …]

It’s not so common today for someone to ask, ‘Have you read a good book lately?’. However, I am now a huge fan of Audible and listen to audiobooks regularly. Maybe we should be asking, ‘Have you listened to a good audiobook lately?’ Although not everyone is an auditory person (myself included), I have found audiobooks to be great background music as well as travel entertainment. My hard-core business geekiness really came out when I yearned to listen to the “Intelligent Entrepreneur” while I was on vacation. Sadly, I could not or did not because I was spending so much [More …]

One tool that has made a huge difference in our company was shared with me by one of my business mentors in EO (Entrepreneur’s Organization). This tool is called StrengthsFinder (SF). What we have found is that StrengthsFinder unlocks productive energy at work. Upon completion of the SF assessment, it provides examples and scenarios of how to best exert these strengths in life and in the work place. In terms of employee management and productivity, their studies showed that people who had the opportunity to focus on their strengths were 6 times more likely to be engaged in their jobs [More …]